This Artistic Cyclist Is Stronger Than a Tour de France Rider

Most of us would feel pretty badass if we could pop and ride a no-handed wheelie like Peter Sagan. Well, step aside Peter the Great. The small, but mighty Viola Brand sees your no-handed wheelie and raises you a backward, no handed, one-legged wheelie and a rolling handlebar handstand—you know, just for kicks.

The 24-year-old professional rider from Stuttgart, Germany competes in a UCI sliver of a niche sport called artistic cycling (also known as freestyle cycling, though Brand doesn’t compete in full body armor despite performing a wide array of precarious stunts, or “figures” as they’re called in competition.)

Artistic cycling is a jaw-dropping amalgamation of cycling, gymnastics, dance, and acrobatics. Athletes deliver a five-minute performance before a panel of judges that includes 30 figures. Like gymnastics or figure skating, each figure is scored depending on the degree of difficulty.

Wecaught up with the two-time World Champion silver medalist to learn more about this little-known cycling discipline and the training it takes to compete at the elite level and pull off such unbelievable feats of balance and strength with ease and grace.

How did you get started in artistic cycling?

My brother was the first one who started artistic cycling in my family, and he is also the reason how I got to know about the sport. I started at the age of six, so I have never done anything else than artistic cycling as a sport like dancing or gymnastics. But in the training for artistic cycling, I also trained gymnastic elements. My brother is still competing, and my mother is the coach of us two.

Alex Seegis

Is the bike itself modified beyond being a fixed gear? I notice you run a belt drive. Is that standard in the sport?

The bike is a special one for artistic cycling from the brand Langenberg. It has a fixed gear belt drive with a 1:1 ratio, and the geometry is a little bit different [the handlebar, which is mounted upside down, can spin 360 degrees and is mounted to a stem with no horizontal extension]. Four years ago, I had a chain instead of the belt, but I like the belt more because it runs so silently.

Which figures in your routine are you most proud of?

The figure I am the most proud of is the handstand because it took me seven years to learn and it was a long way to get there.

Do you perform figures with a harness or other suspension gear while learning them? What’s the process?

The learning process depends on the trick. For most of the tricks, my coach secures me with a belt where she can pull me away from the bike if anything gets dangerous. In order to learn other tricks like to turn the handlebar while standing on it, I was secured by a rope that was at the top of the gymnastic hall where my coach can hold me by pulling the rope.

Have you broken many bones over the years?

I broke three metatarsals in 2016, but that was the only big injury I had in all these years.

Do you ride a regular bike for fun, exercise, or enjoyment?

As the ways I have to pass to University every day are too long in order to go by bike [Brand travels about 60 miles a day from her home to the university campus where she is studying for a Masters of Science in nutritional medicine and then to the gym where she trains], I only ride my artistic cycling bike most of the time

What does a typical training session entail?

I am training around 20 hours per week. I do a lot of handstand training at home, and in the evening I am training in the gymnastic hall on the bike. It is a lot of technique training. So I am doing different tricks in the training that are new, but then also train the old ones to make them faster and more fluent. Then I train my competition routine and also split the whole routine into shorter sequences like seven to 10 tricks in a row. I do flexibility training before each bike session.

What are a few key moves in your strength training or core training routine?

There are not many things that are comparable to the balance you need on the bike. So you get the required balance by training the tricks many, many times until you master them. For example, there is one figure I am counting to see how many tries I have done, and after three years I have trained this trick 4,000 times, and I still do it with security. The trick is called the “maute jump” where you stand on the saddle and jump to the handlebars.

When I was younger I did a lot of running in addition to the bike training. But the stamina you need for the routine is also so specific that it is the best way to train by doing the routine. So in the beginning when you add a new trick to your routine, it takes maybe six minutes, and then you repeat those sequences of the routine many, many times so that you get faster, and that all 30 tricks fit into the five minutes you have at the competitions.

How often do you compete? What do you love most about it?

In 2018, I had about 15 competition days. I love that you need so many different skills, like strength, stamina, flexibility, balance, elegance, mental strength, but also patience because it takes so long to learn all the tricks.

I know others have asked you about Cirque du Soleil because it seems such a natural fit! Is it likely you’ll pursue that down the road?

I love to do shows and to show people this beautiful sport so, yes, why not?

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